Most home and building owners in the United States who use LED light bulbs do so to cut down on their monthly bills and lessen their environmental impact. And while these reasons are important, in some areas of the world LED bulbs could prove even more useful. LED lights are starting to become commonplace in the USA, but the same can’t be said for many developing countries. Instead, they’re still stuck using standard light bulbs, which poses a problem most people in this country are lucky enough to ever encounter.
If you have regular lights around your property, you’ve most likely come home one night only to find moths and other insects buzzing around the entrance to your home. This is typically a minor annoyance, but in some areas of the world, it can pose a major threat. That’s because certain insects can carry diseases like West Nile virus, and insect bites are one of the main ways that diseases are spread in some countries. The fact that these countries are still relying on standard light bulbs makes matters even worse, as pointed out in this article.
The brightness of the bulb does play a role in whether or not insects are attracted to it, but it’s not the only factor. Recently a professor at USC discovered that the color of its wavelengths is also important. With this knowledge in mind, the professor theorizes that LED bulbs could be designed to avoid the types of wavelengths that are most attractive to insects. With these specialized LED bulbs in place, people wouldn’t have to worry about insects gathering around their homes at night. And while this should be appealing to people in countries like America, it is even more important for people in places like Latin America.
For example, there are currently millions of people in Latin America who have Chagas disease. If you’ve never heard of it, this disease can be serious and deadly. The main way it is transmitted is through contact with an insect that tends to migrate around lights. There are also sand flies that spread a parasite responsible for tens of thousands of deaths each year. Mosquitos are known to be attracted to light sources, and they can carry any number of diseases, including malaria.
Different insects are attracted to different types of wavelengths. For example, moths are most attracted to blue and violet. Researchers believe that understanding the different wavelengths certain insects are attracted to could go a long way towards slowing the spread of the diseases they carry. While this discovery is still in its early stages, we hope to see progress on it in the near future.
This is just another of the many ways that we believe LED lightbulbs are changing the world for the better. If you haven’t yet made the upgrade to LED bulbs, there’s never been a better time. And for more news regarding LED bulbs and their impact on the world, stay tuned to our blog!